A Once and Future Life
by ElfDrake
Summary: Both of them are saved, and neither of them by their own volition. But sometimes, something not happening by one's own volition is better than the alternative. Two people whose lives have been ruined by people who hate the Doctor, whose lives have been woven throughout the Doctor's, finally meet after their own deaths.


**So, in this AU, the Doctor did in fact die when the "Impossible Astronaut" shot him, so the series six finale did not, in fact, ever happen. Yes, this is an unconventional pairing. Yes, River/Master. Let me know what you think, please!**

Badadadum

That was the Master's life. Once, he had been Koschei of the House Oakdown, an innocent boy who had run through the orange fields of Gallifrey with his friends. But that had ended with the initiation.

Badadadum

That was when he first started hearing it. That was when he first started hearing the drums. That was the day Koschei Oakdown died and the Master was born. The Master was abandoned by the Doctor, the man he had once thought of as a brother. Later, he would say that's when he went mad.

But he was not driven mad by the initiation.

Badadadum

The initiation was when he was inspired. The initiation was when he was sent the drums that would drive him mad.

Badadadum

It was the drums that the Time Lord used to try to escape the Time War. Perhaps it was the drums that had saved him, that had caused him to flee the Time War. Perhaps it was the sudden lack of them once he found himself back on Gallifrey that was his final liberation. He had thought that was his freedom to die with no chance or ability to regenerate, but he was wrong. It was his freedom to live.

The drums shielded him from the Moment, and he found himself in a library in the 51st century. No, that wasn't quite right. He was in the library databanks. Five people came to greet him.

Ticktock

All throughout her life, Melody Pond was told to hate the Doctor. She was tortured by the Silence. She was left to die in an orphanage so that the Silence would know if she would regenerate, and she did.

Ticktock

She grew up for a second time, this time in Leadworth. she was the friend of her mother and father. She was Mels Jones. But even with her mother's optimistic view of the Doctor, she used him as a scapegoat; all at once, she hated him and hero-worshipped him.

Ticktock

She took the name River Song, casting away her proper name. She killed the Doctor. She brought him back to life once, using up all of her regenerations in one go. And then she killed him again. It was a fixed point, and the Doctor didn't come back. Once, she would have damned time and tried to save him, but she knew that was not an option. Against her will, she succeeded where the Master had failed.

Ticktock

She went to prison; she was the killer of a good man. She was a psychopath; she helped get rid of those who harmed others. One day, her name was cleared, and she went back to her old life as a time-travelling professor of archaeology. And then came the library, and she sacrificed herself. She thought that would be her end, but she was wrong.

The Doctor saved her, literally, into the database. Her team, the dead members thereof, actually, ran to meet her. Giddy at the reunion, they hugged each other tightly. Sometimes, life was good.

A man walked over to them. None of them had ever seen this man before. Hesitantly, all five of them went to greet him.

Tick-Badadadum-Tock

That first day in the library database was the first time the paths of Melody Pond and Koschei Oakdown crossed. And perhaps, it would be the start of something wonderous.

კომფ

"Who are you?" That was the first question asked. Oddly enough, the question belonged to more than one person.

"I'm the Master," the Master, who had once been Koschei, replied, his voice level despite the dying anger that was within him. He had tried to kill Rassilon and he had survived. He had saved the Doctor. Was anything else to be turned on its head?

"Professor River Song," River Song, who once had been Melody Pond, intoned, as somewhat flirty grin on her face as her green eyes twinkling. Inwardly, she was surprised to be alive still. she, the murderer of the Doctor, died to save him. Sometimes, River was no fan of irony. Others, perhaps, she would grow to love. "And this is my team. We're archaeologists, and I have heard just a bit about you."

The Master raised his eyebrows. "Careful. One could almost say you're flirting." He almost laughed at this accusation. If River knew of the Master, then she clearly knew the Doctor, or one of his companions, and, in the Master's opinion, the former was far more likely. He was stuck with the friend of his enemy. He groaned inwardly. Could there be anything worse?

As if sensing the Master's thoughts, River sniggered. The Master shivered involuntarily, shooting as glare at River. If she were in his head, there'd be hell to pay! River shook her head, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "Fifty-first century. It'd be more odd if I weren't flirting."

One of River's team piped up with a quip that was, in River's opinion, quite unhelpful. "And if you didn't flirt, Mr. Lux would never have gotten so smitten with you."

River's eyelids drooped halfway down her eyes, and she turned to fix the woman, who had spoken up, with a glower. The Master bit his lip slightly in an almost failed attempt to keep from smirking. "Shut up," River instructed curtly.

The Master gave up trying to prevent himself from smirking. Of course, the fact of his smirk's existence annoyed River further, causing her to round on him. The Master smiled at her glare. "Shut up," River repeated. "As for you, the Doctor thought you were dead, so how are you here?"

"Drums." He tapped his fingers against his leg in the rhythm that used to plague him. "They saved me."

"Literally," River intoned, a wry smile on her features. "We're all dead here. We were saved on the occasion of our deaths." She watched as the Master's eyes widened. The Master stood up a little straighter. "We're stuck here until we can figure out a way out."

Horror, that was the only possible word to describe what the Master was feeling. He was stuck here in a world where people knew his deeds. He almost wished he were still insane. He could have killed them all, but whatever sliver of conscience was worming its way into his soul would not allow it. There was one question that was unanswered for him. Well, perhaps more than one, but this was the one upon which he was now fixated. "Who are you, River Song?"

River stared at the Master for a moment longer before coming to a decision about what she should say. Sighing, she answered him, her voice somewhere between amused, wistful, and lost. Had the Master been one for pity, he would have pitied the woman in front of him.

"You're the man who tried to kill the Doctor, who spent his entire life trying to make the Doctor miserable? I'm the woman who was brought up for the sake of killing the Doctor. I'm the woman who was the daughter of the Doctor's friends and taken from them at birth. I succeeded where you failed, Master, but not entirely of my own volition," River whispered, not meeting anyone's eyes.

Perhaps, the Master did feel some sympathy for the woman after all. He hesitantly took a step forward and placed one of his hands on River's shoulder and the other on her cheek, turning her head so that she would look at him.

"And he forgave you, and you don't want forgiveness for what you've done?" the Master asked, scarcely daring to hope that River would understand the way he felt. He had tried to hurt the Doctor, but the Doctor refused to be hurt, instead forgiving him for what he had done. Perchance, one day he would learn to be happy about it. But not yet.

"I didn't deserve his forgiveness. I would have liked to think I did, but all I was was a weapon. By the time the Doctor knew, my entire life's story, I was already gone, and he was dead," River mumbled, her tone most certainly not one of happiness and joy. "I died to save a past version of him."

The Master almost reached up a hand to stroke the back of River's head. "So did I, but I was angry. I had just discovered that Rassilon had ruined my entire life to save Gallifrey. They broke my mind for their own desires. But the drums have stopped now, and I see clearly."

River smiled, staring up at the Master. "So you ended him." She laughed suddenly, causing the Master to stare at her, his eyes slightly widened, his mouth open slightly. "He probably deserved it."

River realized that, in the Master, she could see herself and her own life's story. One day, she would grow to trust him. She could sense it. As a gesture of good faith, she decided to reveal a somewhat guarded secret of hers to him. "Melody Pond." The Master frowned, his face almost comical. "That was my name once." River let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Koschei Oakdown," the Master whispered in a similar tone. River stared at him, her own eyes wide. She had not been expecting him to share anything back, but here he was, doing just that. "That was my name once."

A small smile settled on both the Master's and River song's mouths. "Let's get out of this database," River declared, unsure of what to say. Perhaps, in another universe, she would have been fine with such a conversation with another, but she had not had a hearts to hearts in long than she could remember, if she had ever had one with anyone.

The Master nodded. He tapped the rhythm of the drums on River's shoulder. "Yes"

Yes, perhaps, one day, they could grow to fully trust one another, but for now, they would focus on escaping the database.

Yes, one day, two lost souls would come together and find solace in one another.

One day.

**So, what did you think? **

**I hope I got the personalities right. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. My main fic is A Tremor in Time Itself, and my secondary is When She Was Death. **

**Please review!**

**~~Elf**


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